What a perfectly bad time to be alive? A time at which we cannot adjudge the probability of any living being be alive. A time at which we have the most powerful computers which try to churn out weather data, but are unable to do the same to for the last mile of the living beings on earth. We are in the midst of a pandemic. We exactly know where it started. We exactly know how it was spread. We exactly know how the people who had the initial information stay quite and plan for the future to make use of this scenario. We are seeing a different world structure. The "diplomacy" word has become so complicated. The world, is in shambles.
On one side we have the government of a country go and attack the agriculture industry which is the bread and butter of the majority of its residents. Instead of modernizing the agrarian sector, the government is hell bent on bringing corporate to the sector. Am I an economist, am I an agriculturist, am I a diplomat? No, None of these. I am a living being and I require food to be alive. So, yes, I should be interested what is happening in this sector. I should be interested in as much as the issues regarding the shortage of computer chips which has bought many of the industries to a stand still. Do the corporate have the agrarian experience which this big country which once was one of biggest economic power, which induced many emperors to come here and collect back the gold which they had paid for the artistic and the agrarian produce this country has produced.
Our agrarian industry is in shambles. Modernization has not reached this industry. Modernization tried to teach them shortcuts instead of the best practices. Modernization has destroyed the top soil in such a way that no crop can be grown without any chemicals/fertilizers. Modernization has failed to incorporate the experience of our hardworking farmers of yester years. There are only a handful of farmers who are striving by continuing with the practices laid out by their forefathers. There have been instances of educated people from cities going back to their agrarian roots and try to bring back the practices by our farmers from previous generations combining them with modern replacements ensuring that the chemicals used are minimal and every crop taken out is sustainable.
Vast tracts of land have lost the capability to grow anything. These vast expanse of land is waiting for the adjacent cities to grow so that it encapsulates this area. With this, agricultural land becomes residential land. But, until then the farmer can till the land, yes? No. The youngsters in the are are impressed by others going to the city to earn every day money or monthly money which is absent in the agrarian setup which they have been accustomed to. They go and do menial job which does not require any brain processing. If the youngster is at his agricultural land, he has to study the soil, he should study the weather, he should study the market, he should be smart. And then after all this, he wants that daily/monthly money which he knows cannot happen now. But, if he strives it might happen in an year or two. But by that time he would have earned that money now. Why wait for a couple of years. He dont know the disadvantage of working under others. It will be too late for him to recognize the freedom he had if he had continued with his agrarian plans.
The new crop of farmers want their crop to just grow. If there are issues put more fertilizers, more issues, more pesticides. If that dont work, the run towards the cities and do menial jobs. Ethics have been lost on the producer and the consumer. The consumer wants to alienate himself from the hardship of the producer. The producer dont care about the ill effects of his practises until his produce gets sold.
On one side we have one country making the industry fertile for corporations, on the other side, there are countries which have already done this. Even these countries are not left alone. The bigger corporations are ready to take it to the next level. There have been examples of big corporations buying large tracts of agricultural land in the midst of a pandemic. This shows that these bigger ones know something which the present corporations dont know. In the midst of a pandemic a medical speech recognition company is bought for 20 billions USD. A person who dont know the first letter in the medical field, talks about the next pandemic. A philanthropist, through his non profit arm, ensures that the not for profit vaccine is smoothly transitioned to a money making machine.
Combine all this with the lack of interest shown by farmers. You have corporations which will then sell us doctored food. Food grown and altered as per the region and the class it is being sold. Time will come where food also will be assumed to be made like electronic gadgets. People dont know the issues associated with mining the minerals necessary for their gadgets until they have their shiny gadgets every spring. It will be the same for food. The time is not far away, where there will be presentations made about super food v1. We will all eat it. And then in the next presentation we will be told about the problems in the v1 food and we will be told that super food v2 will resolve all the issues v1 created in your body and then some improvements(In fact the issues to be resolved in v3) and so on.
The pandemic on hand is awesome. It is affecting only the 99.99% of the population. The 0.01% is not bothered. They are going about their business while all the business of the 99.99% have tanked. Deaths have become mere numbers. Rules and regulations have been played with like it is childs play. The 99.99% dont know to believe the pandemic or not. The thing is if they believe, they have to stay indoors, which again, they cant. They will not be able to survive for long. If they dont believe, they will be be-littled by the believers and will be blamed for anything happening to the believers. No deaths are being questioned. No deaths have been subjected to further analysis. Even if it is subjected to further analysis by another doctor, what is the guarantee that the other doctor will be doing an ethical job of it. Hospitals are running out of beds. They are running out of oxygen. Let us not talk about ventillators. When the entire government machinery is busy chalking out the strategy to win an election, instead of the pandemic on hand, we know something is wrong the world is being run. Those who are near and dear to any human being only will be able to tell the damage, the pandemic has done. Those who have struggled to breathe will only tell the pain the pandemic has inflicted on an individual.
So, the pandemic originates somewhere and spreads miraculously without anybody's knowledge. In the times of human wanting to go to the moon/Mars, without understanding the planet which they have inhabited for their entire lifetime, is a joke. The human kind is at crossroads. There is talk of universal basic income for every human being on the planet for workers and people who want to just while away their life. If it is all about printing money and sending it to every individual on the planet, it is very easy. However, all these people are to be fed. So, universal income depends on food available in plenty. We want to device methods of farming with minimum amount of water, so that potable water left on the planet can be used for human consumption. All these ideas boil down to one fact.
The "agrarian" industry is the most crucial one for the continued existence of man kind. It has to be kept out of multinationals and be kept as a family run enterprise and should be free for any individual to take up. It should be one industry which does not need any approvals. Water and air also were supposed to be kept out of reach of multinationals. However, we have lost it. The strategy used by multinationals to reach this situation is dangerous. Spoil all the pristine and natural sources of water and air. Now sell the same polluted water and air by commercializing the process of cleaning the damage which they themselves are responsible. The "agrarian" industry is taking the same path. Pollute the soil, pollute the minds of the farmer. The consumer's mind is already spoilt, We can ignore him here. Now, buy off all the land(water and air already owned) and then you have the complete planet under your control. First remove all the ingredients from the food and then add what is required based on the geographical location/caste/creed/class. We are nearly there.
Coming back, the covid tests are a joke. There have been no improvements in the testing procedure. There have been no advancements in the treatments. Everybody is behind the vaccine. Mars missions and moon missions have been planned and executed. I dont feel the world wants to know the problem on hand. It just wants to go about its regular duties as though there is no pandemic. We surely can do away with the Mars/Moon missions. They can wait. They can perfect their mathematics.
What has all this got to do with agriculture? Well, every living being has to eat. Food has to be grown. All the packed food needs the output from a farmer. The time is closer wherein, the super store racks will not have any packaged foods. The raw material for any edible item has to come mother earth. All governments, please leave the agrarian economy as is. Compile the experiences of yester year farmers. Combine it with just enough tech to ensure that the procedure is 100% sustainable. Not any lesser percentage. It can be done. There have been instances wherein individuals incorporating these older procedures have succeeded. Identify them and empower them. Now.
When governments huddle together and discuss how to efficiently increase the capacity of mortuaries so that people who are dead will have a speedy ritual, there is something wrong. In all this where does a farmer stand? Is he important? In fact, is food important? Should we eat to survive? It is high time the government supports innovation in this field. It is high time, the individual farmers start planning. It is high time the young farmers who have understood this concept educate the others than to get highlighted and stay so at the expense of other failures.